Pumping device



Jan. 4, 1966 G. w. ALBEE ETAL 3,227,037

PUMPING DEVICE Filed Oct. 18, 1963 M O 1 L B 2 N NE R W5 Wm N A T Wm x FE M @w United States Patent 3,227,0il7 PUMPENG DEVICE George W Albee andKenneth A. F. Qlson, Phoenix, Ariz., assignors to Midland-RossCorporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ghio Filed Oct. 18, 1963,Ser. No. 317,342 4Clain1s. (Cl. 103-103) This invention relates to animprovement in liquid pumping devices. More particularly, the inventionrelates to an improvement in liquid pumping devices of the type adaptedto be submerged in a body of the liquid to be pumped. The invention canbe utilized to advantage in evaporative type air cooling units.According to such an application a pumping device in accordance with thepresent invention may be submerged in a body of Water and utilized topump Water to means for bringing the water into contact with a stream ofair tobe cooled.

Pumping devices of the type adapted to be submerged in a body of theliquid to be pumped customarily comprise a motor supported above thelevel of the liquid being pumped; an impeller submerged in the liquid; ashaft connecting the impeller to the motor; a housing for the impellerand forming, therewith, the pump, per se; and means for supporting themotor and for connecting it to the impeller housing. In the constructionof the impeller housing it is necessary to provide means removable fromthe rest of the housing to provide for the insertion and removal of theimpeller and yet which is tightly attachable to the remainder of thehousing in service to prevent leakage of the liquid being pumped. Thus,in the prior art, there are-disclosed pumping devices having wall meansforming a generally cylindrical impeller housing, generally completelyenclosed except for appropriately located liquid inlet and outletopenings, in which an end wall of the cylindrical housing is removablysecured to the remainder of the housing by threaded fasteners.

According to the present invention, however, the need for threadedfasteners for securing the removable means of the impeller housing tothe remainder of the housing is obviated without impairment of theperformance of the pumping device and at substantially reducedmanufacturing costs. For a further understanding of the invention,attention is directed to the following portion of the specification, thedrawing, and the appendedclaims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, in perspective, of a pumping deviceincorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational View, partially in section, of a portion of theapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational exploded view, partially in section,of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken on line 4i of FIG. 2 except with a portion of oneelement of the apparatus broken away to illustrate other features of theapparatus.

In accordance with the present invention there is provide-d a pumpingdevice 11 comprising motive means such as an electric motor 12, a pumpbody 13, an impeller 14 illustrated as being of the centrifugal flowtype, and a shaft for transmitting power from motor 12 to impeller 14.Shaft 15 is of suilicient length to allow impeller 14 to be submerged ina body of the liquid to be pumped (not shown) while permitting motor 12to be operated at a predetermined safe distance above the level of thebody of liquid. Pump body 13 comprises a plurality of aperture-d tabs16, shown illustratively as two (2) in number, whereby motor 12 may beattached to pump body 'by means such as threaded fasteners 17. Motor 12,in turn, comprises means such as mounting bracket 18 whereby pumpingdevice 11 may be attached to the wall means of the receptacle (notshown) containing the body of liquid to be pumped;

In addition to apertured tabs 16 pump body 13 comprises wall means]Wforming cylindrical recess 21, open at one end, to receive a forwardbearing portion (not shown) of motor 12. Pump body 13 also comprisesWall means including an end wall 22 and an annular wall 23 extendingperpendicularly from end wall 22 and forming a generally cylindricalrecess 24- for receiving pump impeller 14. End wall 22 is provided witha suit ably located aperture 25 to permit the passage therethrough ofshaft 15- and which is size-d to provide adequate clearance with respectto shaft 15to constitute an opening for the delivery of liquid toimpeller 14. Also; wall means 25 is provided with a tangentiallydisposed tubular element 26 which constitutes an outlet for delivery ofliquid from pumping device 11 to a suitable delivery line (not shown);

Additionally, pump body 13 comprises a plurality (shown as four) ofcircumferentially space-d ribs 27, each of which is constructedgenerally in the shape of a T, and whose inner edges are spaced apartfrom each other sufficiently far to permit free operation of impellershaft 15; Ribs Z7 serve to connect wall means 19 to end wall member 22;to form a unitary structure. As illustrated, pump body 13 and all of itsconstituent elements may be formed in a single pieceof a plasticmaterial. Plastic materials found suitable for such an applicationinclude a highimpact thermoplastic resin marketed by Marbon ChemicalDivision of Borg-Warner Corporation, Gary, Indiana, under the trademarkCycolac (Type T) and a super high impact polystyrene marketed by DowChemical Company, Midland, Michigan, under the trademark Styron 480.

The end of cylindrical recess 24- opposite from end wall 22 is closed inservice by means removable from the remainder of pump body 13 comprisinga closure plate 28 formed from a resilient material, preferably the samematerial as the pump body. Closure plate 23 may be provided with acentrally disposed aperture 29 for the admission of liquid to be pumpedto impeller 14 from the lower regions of the means containing the liquidand further comprises an annular recess $51 which cooperates with thelower portion of wall means 23 to form a seal when closure plate 28 isattached to pump body 13.

In the attachment of closure plate 28 to pum body 13 during service ithas been found that the use of threadedfasteners characteristic of priorart means for attaching a closure plate to an impeller housing may beeliminated to advantage, both from the standpoint of initialmanufacturing cost and from the standpoint of ease of removing closureplate 23 for access to recess 24 as for cleaning or for removingimpeller 14}. The attachment of closure plate 28 to pump body 13 iseffected, in accordance with the present invention, as follows: Wallmeans 23 of pump body 13 is provided with a plurality of pairs 32 ofspaced apart legs 33 extending radially outwardly and downwardlytherefrom. Each of the legs is provided with a shoulder surface 34extending transversely outwardly from that side of the leg 33 which isopposite to the other leg in the same pair. Further, in applicationswhere the peripheral surface 35 of closure plate 28 is planar, all ofthe shoulder surfaces 34 of the legs 33 are co-planar. Because of thefact that the legs 33 in a given pair 32 are spaced apart, they may bebiased toward each other to reduce the dimension, transverse to thelegs, from the end of a shoulder surface 34 of one of the legs 33 in apair 32 to the end of the shoulder surface 34 of the other leg 33 of thepair shown at FIG. 2 as A.

To cooperate with the plurality of pairs of legs 32 of pump body 13closure plate is provided with a plurality of generally rectangularlyshaped peripheral notches 36 in peripheral surface 35. The number ofnotches 35 is equal to the number of pairs 32 of legs (shown as four)and notches 36 are so located that, when closure plate is suitablyoriented with respect to pump body 13 prior to attachment as shown atMG. 3, each notch 36 is very closely aligned with a pair of legs 32. Thewidth dimension of each slot 36, shown as B in FIG. 4, is somewhat lessthan dimension A of the aligned pair 32 of legs 33 when the legs havenot been biased toward one another and is somewhat greater than A whenlegs 33 of the aligned pair 32 have been biased toward one another.Thus, by biasing the legs 33 of every pair toward one another closureplate may be moved up towards pump body with notches 3d moving past theends of shoulder surfaces 34 SLlffiClBIlllY far that the end portion ofwall means '23 is received in recess 31 of closure plate 28 to form aliquid seal. At such time the force tending to bias the legs 33 of eachpair toward one another should be released with the effect that legs 33will return to their normal position and shoulder surfaces 34 will barthe withdrawal of closure plate 2%.

To achieve satisfactory closing of the open end of cylindrical recess 24by means of closure plate 2-8 it is desired that the spacing between theplane of the lower edge of wall means 23 and shoulder surfaces 34 oflegs 33 be not in excess of, and preferably slightly less than, thespacing between the plane of the root of recess 31 and the plane of theexterior of peripheral surface 35. If the prior spacing substantiallyexceeds the latter spacing closure plate 28 will not fit sufiicientlytight to maintain a satisfactory seal, and if the prior spacing is lessthan the latter spacing in an amount beyond the resiliency of closureplate 28 the return of legs 33 to their normal position upon removal ofthe biasing force will not occur with the result that closure plate 28will not be retained in place by the locking action of shoulder surfaces34.

The biasing of individual legs 33 in a pair 32 for the purpose ofattaching closure plate 28 to pump body can be accomplished by wedgingaction when closure plate is biased toward pump body 13 by opposedforces directed transversely to closure plate 28 if each of legs 33 isprovided with an inclined surface 37 inclining from the outer edge ofshoulder surface 34 downwardly and inwardly to the end of the respectiveleg 33. In the illustrated embodiment, however, it is necessary that thebiasing of legs 33 toward one another to facilitate the removal ofclosure plate 28 be by means of opposed forces directed transversely oflegs 33.

The best mode known to us to carry out this invention has been describedabove in terms sufficiently full, clear, concise, and exact as to enableany person skilled in the art to make and use the same. It is to beunderstood, however, that it is contemplated that other modes ofpracticing the invention can be made by a skilled artisan withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention which is defined only by theappended claims.

We claim:

1. In a pumping device comprising end wall means and annular wall meansextending from the end wall means and forming a recess for receiving animpeller, means for closing the recess comprising, in combination: aplurality of pairs of spaced apart substantially parallel legs extendingoutwardly and downwardly from the annular wall means and of unitaryconstruction with said annular wall means and each of the legs beingprovided with a shoulder surface extending generally transversely fromthat side of the leg which is opposite to the side facing the other legin the same pair; and a closure plate having apertures adapted to bealigned with the plurality of pairs of legs, said apertures being ofsufficient width to clear the shoulder surfaces of a pair of legs whenthe legs are biased toward one another and being of insufficient widthto clear the shoulder surfaces of a pair of legs when the legs are notbiased toward one another.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said closure plate comprisesan annular recess for receiving the lower edge of the annular wall meansand for forming a seal therewith.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said closure plate comprisesan annular surface located exteriorly of the annular recess and whereinthe apertures adapted to be aligned with pairs of spaced apart legscomprise generally rectangularly shaped notches in the periphery of theannular surface.

4-. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the lower edge of the annularwall means is disposed in a plane, wherein the root of the annularrecess is disposed in a plane, wherein all the shoulder surfaces of thelegs are co-planar, and wherein the spacing between the plane of thelower edge of the annular wall means and the plane of the shouldersurfaces is not greater than nor substantially less than the spacingbetween the plane of the root of the annular recess and the top of theannular surface of the closure plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,688,930 9/1954Moss 10387 2,758,498 8/1956 Johnson. 2,844,100 7/ 1958 Heinicke 10387FOREIGN PATENTS 139,573 7/1930 Switzerland.

SAMUEL LEVINE, Primary Examiner.

HENRY F. RADUAZO, DONLEY I. STOCKING,

Assistant Examiners.

1. IN A PUMPING DEVICE COMPRISING END WALL MEANS AND ANNULAR WALL MEANSEXTENDING FROM THE END WALL MEANS AND FORMING A RECESS FOR RECEIVING ANIMPELLER, MEANS FOR CLOSING THE RECESS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: APLURALITY OF PAIRS OF SPACED APART SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL LEGS EXTENDINGOUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM THE ANNULAR WALL MEANS AND OF UNITARYCONSTRUCTION WITH SAID ANNULAR WALL MEANS AND EACH OF THE LEGS BEINGPROVIDED WITH A SHOULDER SURFACE EXTENDING GENERALLY TRANSVERSELY FROMTHAT SIDE OF THE LEG WHICH IS OPPOSITE TO THE SIDE FACING THE OTHER LEGIN THE SAME PAIR; AND A CLOSURE PLATE HAVING APERTURES